


Up In the Stands

by Vanesky



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Drama, Explicit Language, F/M, Friendship/Love, Gryffindor, Humor, Mild Sexual Content, Quidditch, Ravenclaw, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-19
Updated: 2014-05-15
Packaged: 2018-01-19 23:30:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1488145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vanesky/pseuds/Vanesky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Falling asleep in the quidditch stands, Kensley Everett is given a rude awakening by a fiery Gryffindor captain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First of the Last

The train jolted and roared out of the station. I kept waving to my parents until they were only a distant point among all the people wishing us goodbye. I chuckled a little and turned to my friends.

"Hey, this is the last time we'll be waving goodbye."

"Well, not really. What about the holidays and seeing other people off in the future?" Caleb replied, his disheveled blond hair peering overSeeker Weekly.

"Oh shush Callie, I know what you mean, Kensley. It's odd, isn't it? Us being 7th years, surreal really. This is the last time we're heading off to start school," Spencer said with a grin as she turned and rested her feet on me, "and that was our last summer holiday, where I might add one Ms. Fawcett did not see either of her terrible friends even once. Just how was the Spencer-less summer for you two?

I grimaced. I'd spent the majority of break with my dad as the temporary assistant team manager for the Montrose Magpies after the last one was fired. It was quidditch pitch after quidditch pitch all summer. Not that it was a new thing for me, with my dad being a coach and my brother being a professional player. My whole life has revolved around quidditch, but still, the hopes of traveling back to the states to visit Aidan or accepting the invitation to vacation in France with Spencer were thrown in the trash along with my relationship. My boyfriend and I had broken up after my long term absence had finally taken its toll. This last summer was not a good one.

"Don't tease me, Spence, you know how it was, just dad and the magpies. I barely even got to see mom, she had a summer teaching position over at St. Andrew's… and you already know about Grant."

Spencer frowned slightly, but quickly dismissed it and giggled with her light brown curls falling onto her face, "I don't think I am ever getting over how you say mum."

I was grateful for Spencer's smooth transition and laughed, "Well it's not my fault that my veins run with red, white, and blue!" I teased.

I was used to being given a bit of a hard time with my accent, or lack of one, from my friends. I was originally born in Boston and grew up there fully expecting to attend the Salem Institute where my brother had already gone to. Unfortunately for my childhood self, though, my mom received a job offer at St. Andrew's University and my dad became the head coach for the Montrose Magpies right before I turned 11. We packed up, moved to Scotland, and I ended up at Britain's leading academy of magic, Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Caleb looked up from his magazine and smirked, "Honestly, you and your complaints, woman. I just visited my grandmum in Bath and saw a bit of the sights, nothing really. Laying about, acting like a muggle while I visited family. Merlin, Kensley, I would kill - kill being the important word here - to spend my holiday with Coach and the Magpies."

He proceeded to throw his magazine at me and I scowled, preparing to throw it back.

"Grass is always greener," I scoffed.

Caleb rolled his eyes at me, "Oh, I'm not sure if it's really important to you or anything, but your brother is in a snippet on page 25."

I jumped in my seat and quickly flipped through pages, finding his name under "Overseas News." Just a small article mentioning him as a promising up-and-comer for the Fitchburg Finches and a replay on his most recent match, not even a picture was published. Though I wasn't surprised, It was only his second year as a professional player, and Aidan could care less for publicity, even going as far as changing his last name to remove himself from dad's fame. But it was still nice seeing that he was slowly getting recognized.

Spencer squealed, "Let me see! I miss that handsome face of his."

"Will you relax, there's no picture. Seriously what's with you two and hitting my sore spots? First summer break and then mentioning Aidan? It's been more than a year since I saw him last. He said he might not even make it back for Christmas. I'm being stabbed in the heart with your words!" I jokingly flailed around, "I am dying, and you two are my murderers! Just how long have you two conspired against me?"

"Oh calm your ass. Speaking of murderers, you have heard about it right?" Caleb said, a little more serious. "About Black and his escape?"

"Of course I have, I don't know anyone in the wizarding world who hasn't."

"It's frightening, knowing he's out there." Spencer shivered, "Gives me the chills a bit… and I don't know if it's just me, but does the train seem colder?"

Spencer removed her legs from my lap, folding them under her chin.

"A little," I replied, rubbing my nose, "And it feels a little off, too."

"You guys are being ridic-"

Caleb was cut off by the abrupt halt of the train followed by immediate darkness.

"Okay, so maybe not that ridiculous, but it's probably something mechanical. We'll be up and running in no time," he not-so-confidently assured us, getting up to open the compartment door, "I'll go ask someone."

"Mechanical!?" Spencer exclaimed, "The train is run by magic! Magic! Oh bleeding bollocks, I have a bad feeling about this."

"You might actually be right about something, Spence," Caleb quickly closed the door and sat back down.

"What exactly are you getting at?" I quietly muttered to no reply, "Caleb!"

"So you know that off-bad feeling you both have? Well it's... um... most likely due to the dementors walking or uh floating down the corridor."

"Wait, wait, wait, dementors? You're not joking, are you?"

He gave me a weak smile, "I wish I was."

Spencer gave a squeal of fright and I just groaned.

Then, the aforementioned creature appeared. A mysterious cloaked figure, shrouded in a black smoky fog slowly, painfully, floated its way across our compartment. We'd learned about dementors already in school, but no amount of reading could have ever prepared us for the actual feeling of having one near.

Any trace of happiness escaped like a flood and I was paralyzed. Memories, repressed by my mind, resurfaced. I could only remember the pain that seared through my body and the helplessness I had felt that day. Trapped on that forest floor, alone, and my world coming to an end; I could only watch as my mother found me, eyes filling with panic. My own welled over with hot moisture and my words struggled with a plea to stop the pain...

"Ken, Kensley, KENSLEY!"

A hand violently shook my shoulder, and my consciousness was brought back into reality.

"Here. Take a piece," Spencer said as she divided her chocolate bar. "Are you alright? I was so terribly worried that you fainted. If your eyes hadn't been open I really would've thought you had."

I gave her a sheepish half-smile. "No, I'm fine, really. I sorta spaced out there, though, didn't I?"

"That's a bit of an understatement. Are you really alright?"

Spencer had that worried motherly look in her eyes, and I didn't want to say anything that would increase it, but honestly, some things had come up that I had not thought about for a very long time. To say it wasn't pleasant, now that would've been the understatement.

"Yeah, no, really I'm fine."

"That's good then, you gave us a right good scare there, little Li Li," Caleb said with a crooked grin.

"Please, please, I have said this so many times! Don't call me Li Li. It's so vile, it makes me want to throw up. And don't think I can't hear those racist Asian undertones."

"Don't get that on me, these are new shoes!"

"I won't, Spencer my dear, as long as Callie refrains from calling me by that awful nickname."

"Ugh! I am so offended! I think Li Li is a elegant and beautiful nickname, and you are Asian, well part at least!"

Recovered from before, I laughed and continued the thankfully contrasting light-hearted conversation. We were all glad to have quickly changed the tone in the compartment from the previous somber ordeal and continued to talk, happy to not discuss the more grim topic.

xxxxx

I laid awake in the familiar Ravenclaw dormitory thinking about what had happened tonight. My eyes traced the random patterns of the maple-colored wood of my four poster. The silk curtains softly billowed onto my bed and the wind soundly blew outside the windows. These were generally good conditions, but there was a knot of anxiety in my stomach that prevented me from falling asleep.

I really didn't have much to worry about. The dementors being placed around the school was just a precautionary measure. I did have a small freak out, but the Potter kid had actually fainted. I was still a little annoyed at those Slytherins for belittling him like that. He had more than enough on his plate to cause that reaction. But that was my point, there was no sound reason for me to be worried.

I laid there for a little longer until I couldn't bear my own body heat any more. If I'm going to be up, I should at least be doing something. Trying the hardest to be quiet as I could, I stepped down to the ravenclaw common room. Sitting on the lush velvet couch I began to write a letter.

_Dear Aidan,_

_I think it's around 2 in the morning while I'm writing this. I'm sitting in the common room, on the couch next to the big window I really like. I really can't sleep, so I thought writing to you would be more productive._

_Tomorrow is the first day of my last year. It really sounds more momentous than it actually will be I imagine. Do you remember when I heard that I wouldn't be going to Salem like you, I got so upset I wouldn't talk to mom and dad for like a week? Things really do change. I got a little nostalgic today about the past, I'm glad to be growing up and all, but it's scary isn't? Knowing directly that when the time comes everything will change._

_I hope you're doing well, Caleb found a snippet of you in Seeker Weekly. I miss you and so does mom and dad. You really should write more._

_Lots and lots of love,_

_Kensley Everett_

xxxxx

"Get up. Hey, you're going to be late to breakfast. Get up!"

I opened my eyes and was met with a hazel colored glare from Spencer.

"Wah-wah? Oh shit!"

"That's right, 'Oh shit!' Come on, you are so lucky I like to get up early. I can't believe you already fell asleep in the common room and it's only the first day of school!"

"Spencer, stop mothering me."

"I wouldn't have to if you weren't such a child."

I shot her a smile, "What would I do without you mother dearest?"

"You would probably be off living in the forbidden forest foraging for food."

I laughed and ran up to our room before anyone else could see me.

"Goodmorning everyone!" I chimed as I opened the dorm door.

"Goodmorning." Aurelia muffled through her sweater. "Penelope is in the shower and I'm still trying to wake Shea up."

"I can probably help with that." I sauntered over to She's bed, "Shea, oh Shea, sweet pea it's time to wake up," I mockingly sang to her.

"Never," she replied from under her covers.

"But you have such a big day, it's the first day of school my dearie!"

She proceeded to hit me in the face like an alarm clock.

"Alright. I tried the gentle way, but you resorted to violence. Aurelia is a witness," I said as I jumped onto her bed, sticking my cold feet inside her warm blankets. She shrieked, as per protocol and pushed me off the bed, "FINE! I'm getting up! Can't find a moments peace with you lot."

"Success," I smirked to Aurelia as Shea's tired form slowly sat up.

xxxxx

I jolted awake again for about the 50th time today. Yawning, I rubbed my palms into my eyes. It wasn't Professor Flitwick's fault I was falling asleep, charms was one of my favorite subjects, but the late night had turned my eyes into weights and it was the last class of the day. I couldn't blink without risking bashing my head onto the table. I repeated my mantra, "30 minutes till class ends… 20 minutes… 10 minutes," until finally, he had dismissed us for the day.

I yawned again, but this time someone poked me in the stomach.

"Caleb, is it your job to irritate me?"

Curling his hand around his chin, "I find it more of a calling really, you could even say it was destiny. Also, you might want to look in a mirror."

"I know I look horrible, I'm dead tired. I went to bed late last night and this pile of homework isn't helping my mood, not to mention the extra homework dad sent me this morning at breakfast," I managed to grumble out.

At my expense Caleb smiled, "From your father you say? Mind if I take a look, because you know, you're stressed and tired and all."

"Not a chance," I started walking away, "And don't follow me!"

Sitting in the stands of the Hogwart's quidditch pitch, I breathed the air in. Fresh, slightly brisk from the incoming fall and still a little warm from the departing summer. I relaxed as the wind brushed through my hair and the smell of the grass wafted throughout the field. Although complaining about the immense amount of time I spent on quidditch pitches was something of a habit, it was one of my favorite places to unwind. Something about the emptiness of the stands and the high altitude made me feel so still and at peace.

I laid down on the bench, taking out the plays my dad had sent this morning. Looking over them I tried to envision each one being used out in the pitch while thinking of comments to add on. Sifting through the pile, I didn't notice my eyes slowly drifting to a close.

"WAKE UP!"

Jolted awake, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain looked down at me angrily.


	2. Waking Up

"WAKE UP!"

Startled awake, the Gryffindor Quidditch Captain looked down at me angrily.

"Oh shoot! I think I fell asleep," disoriented, I yawned out, "What time is it, uh."

He looked familiar, I've definitely had at least a couple classes with him and I remember him becoming a captain 5th year. What was his name? Twist, no, nobody is named Twist. But why would I associate his name with Twist?

"Oliver!" I paused taking note of his expression, "Are you okay? You look a little angry."

"It's Wood to you. And yes, I am angry. Angry about the ravenclaw spy I just caught, who was even stupid enough to fall asleep while snooping around my practice."

"Hold on, you think I'm spying?"

He gestured to the scattered plays lying on the floor, glaring at me, "I don't think you're spying, I can see that you're spying."

"I know that this looks really bad, but it's not what it looks like," I managed to scramble out.

"This is exactly what it looks like!"

"If you just listen..."

"I don't need to listen," he yelled, "I need you out of here! And to give me those," pointing at the plays.

"Will you calm down! Those aren't even yours and I'm not a spy!"

"I am not going to calm down for some nosy prying tart who's probably just here to try and get in the good graces of the ravenclaw team."

"You know what!? Fine, here are YOUR PLAYS," I hollered throwing the plays at him. "You are so rude! I wasn't here to spy on your miserable little practice anyway. I'm leaving now, happy?"

"Very! Now go," he watched me walk away from the pitch like he was making sure that I didn't try to sneak back to spy more.

I got even more heated while stomping back to the castle. That insufferable little asshole had made my day even worse than it already was. I mean I know I looked suspicious and all, but he didn't have to be such a jerk! The only redeeming thought I had was letting this all out to my friends, but my hopes of venting my frustrations were dashed when Caleb and Spencer were nowhere to be found.

xxxxx

I let out an exasperated sigh as I plopped onto the sofa. Closing my eyes and brushing my hair back, I tried to force myself to relax.

"Something bothering you?"

I opened my eyes surprised to see a familiar mop of auburn hair.

"Why?"

"You have your bothered face on."

"Grant, I would really like to not talk about it."

He sat down next to me, "Alright." He paused studying my face, "But there is something I would like to talk about."

I turned in my seat to face him, "If this is what I think it is, I would rather not."

"Please, this summer. It was a mistake," he whispered out.

I closed my eyes again. Grant had broken up with me during the summer. It was a clean break and I had finally managed to get over him. Honestly, a lot of the blame went to me. I was too neglectful. We had it good during the school year, but summer came and I was so busy with quidditch, things just naturally started to fall through the cracks. He finally wrote to me saying that he was tired of being second place and that he was done. I accepted it as it was.

Opening my eyes, I slowly said, "Grant, it wasn't a mistake."

"Please, just hear me out," he said grasping my hand. There was that earnest look in his dark blue eyes that I've seen time and time again. I couldn't just get up and leave.

"Okay, fine. But let's not do this in the common room."

We silently walked through the halls until we found a secluded area to sit.

After a moment of silence I relented, "Go on."

He mouthed his words first, trying to find the right thing to say, "What I wrote in that letter… I didn't write that to break up with you."

"Why then?"

I was utterly confused. What was he going to say to me now?

"I wanted to get a reaction. Like a confirmation. You were busy and I get it, but... Merlin I sound like a girl. I wanted to you to chase after me. And after you said it was okay, I let it be. But, Kensley, I haven't gotten over you and quite honestly, I don't want to. Will you consider giving me another chance?"

It was tempting. It would be so easy to fall back into this relationship. Looking into his eyes I couldn't imagine replying anything other than yes, but this was his mistake, not mine.

I took a large intake of air, "Grant, it took me all summer to get over you. I know you think it was a mistake, but I don't do do-overs like this. I'm sorry, but we are done."

He nodded with a saddened expression, his usually tall form, deflated. I felt horrible for making him feel like this, knowing that with only a sentence I could change his expression into a happy one.

I took his hand, "I really am sorry. I was happy though, when we were together." I kissed him on the cheek,"Thanks, for everything. I mean it."

"Yeah, your welcome." He smiled weakly at me and gave me a hug. With a closing kiss, he stood up, "Bye, Kensley."

"Goodbye Grant."

I watched him walk away. Sitting back I stared up at the high ceilings, trying to not let any tears fall and contemplating on what had just happened. I felt drained, and cold. Grant's final hug and kiss left some remembrance of warmth, leaving the rest of my body chilled and empty. I kept trying to convince myself that this was the right thing to do for the both of us.

"Heavens was that filled with cheese."

I snapped forward in surprise.

"Oliver."

"That's Wood to you."

I rolled my eyes at his uppity attitude.

"There was no need to spy was there, you already have that keeper wrapped around your conniving little finger."

That was uncalled for, but I didn't have the energy to get angry. I was a flood of tears waiting to happen.

I could barely mutter, "Please go away."

"I recall that a certain someone was not as accommodating when I demanded the exact same thing just before."

His words echoed through the hollow halls as if they were trying to break through my already fragile exterior.

"Please."

Oliver squinted his eyes and crossed his arms, "Make. Me."

The flood gates opened and I could feel the warm tears trailing down my face.

"I'LL LEAVE THEN. YOU'RE SUCH AN OBNOXIOUS IDIOT, JESUS!"

He looked stunned, but I didn't care. I stormed away from him and this hell of an emotional day.

xxxxx

"Kensley, get your head off the table."

"No...," I whined through my hair, "Leave me alone Spence."

"Seriously, what's wrong?"

She wasn't going to leave it, so I decided that I could at least talk about the less draining part of yesterday.

Turning up, I rested my chin on the hardwood table, "You know Oliver Wood, in Gryffindor house?"

"I know of him, not personally though. Quidditch captain right?"

I nodded in response, "Well the same with me until yesterday."

"Why? Did something good happen," A sly smirk stretched its way across her face.

I frowned in response, "Don't get any ideas, it was far from good! That prat accused me of spying on his team practice! He was so irritating, the most stubborn and vile person..."

"Those are not pleasant words for the morning."

"You're never pleasant Callie," I looked over my shoulder and almost fell off the seat, "Oliver."

"Wood to you. And who's Callie?"

I stared at him speechless.

Spencer looked at the both of us beaming at the awkward situation, "We call our friend Caleb, Callie."

"Anyways, here." He handed me the pile of plays that I had thrown at him before. "These aren't mine, and they weren't Gryffindor plays either."

"Uh huh..." I took the papers back, but I was waiting for his apology.

Oliver awkwardly stood there a little longer, looking off in some random direction, "Well, I'm off," he finally said.

"Wait! Aren't you forgetting something?"

"What?"

"Can I at least get an apology?"

He looked affronted, "You're kidding?"

"No? You said a lot of things that were uncalled for."

"It's not my fault that your were careless enough to fall asleep in the stands or that you were with your boyfriend out in the public eye!"

Spencer gasped, "Boyfriend. You and Grant are back together!?"

I disregarded her, "Well you didn't have to wrongfully accuse me or yell at me either! You insulted me too!"

"You are unbelievable!" He yelled at me.

"You're unbelievable!" I screamed back.

"You are such a righteous git!"

"Look who's talking, captain pretentious."

"Sod off, won't you?" His face was getting red and his Scottish accent was rising with his anger.

"Why don't you go fu-," I was in the air, the two hands holding me up by my armpits we're annoyingly familiar, "Caleb let me down!"

"No can do, being mad is bad for the soul," He looked over at Oliver, "Good morning captain, now what has brought a fine gentlemen such as yourself over to the Ravenclaw table?"

He squared his jaw, "Nothing, absolutely nothing," the words barely managed to escape through his teeth, "I was just leaving."

Caleb put me down and we watched him leave the great hall.

"I'm confused." I sputtered out.

He sat down and grinned, "Doesn't look good for a quidditch captain to be fighting with another house's player does it?"

"No. It doesn't," I sat down next to him, pushing my hands into my hair, "but really, what the hell was that?" Questioning my own actions more than his.

"Yeah, what was that?" Spencer questioned.

I answered in monotone, "Last night I fell asleep at the quidditch pitch in the stands and he caught me "spying" at his practice."

Spencer and Caleb immediately started to laugh at my expense.

"Be quiet you losers! He's legitimately mad at me and I hate it since there's no actual reason!"

I faintly heard someone clear their throat, but Spencer and Caleb's laughter drowned out the sound and I paid no attention.

"Excuse me!"

Immediately, we fell silent staring at the three. The famous Harry Potter and the Weasley twins stood there just as awkwardly as Oliver had before. Suddenly one of the twins looked at Harry and shouted, "Now!" Both of them bolted away yelling out apologies, leaving the other twin shocked and seething, "I thought we were going to leave Harry to do it!"

Not looking back, one of the copies called over, "Sorry, you've got the people skills!"

A solid second passed and my curiosity got the best of me, not sure of his name I just replied, "Yes?"

Taken aback by the sudden change of focus, he took a second to gather his thoughts.

"Fred Weasley, uh… team representative?" He said with a quick wave, "About Wood."

Raising an eyebrow, I asked, "What about him?"

"Sorry about all this. We saw what happened last night during practice and we wanted you to know that he isn't normally like this."

"He's not normally a crazy intense quidditch maniac?"

He rubbed his neck and leaned back with a crooked grin, "You got me. He's intense, but he doesn't have any bad intentions. He just really cares about quidditch."

I crossed my arms in silence, and stared down at the table not sure if I could believe him. Fred seemed like he was being sincere but I didn't know him well enough to be sure.

"You and me both, mate," Caleb agreed, noticing my lull in speech and signaling the end of the conversation, "I'll see you out on the pitch then Weasley?"

"Sounds good there." Convinced that he got his point across, he shot us another smile and left to go join his friends at the Gryffindor table.

"He's cute."

I looked at Spencer in mock disgust, "You preying on the underclassmen then? Awful."

"What? He's a fifth year and I live near his family. I am only making an objective observation," she argued.

xxxxx

"Kensley," Jeremy whispered to me.

"What? Do we need to go over the instructions again?" I said back in a haughty voice, Jeremy had taken to spending all last year poking fun at my slight ineptitude at Herbology, so as a symbol of appreciation, I now constantly teased him about his own weakness in potions.

"No, you thick Yank. Look over there," he retorted, motioning over to the back of the class.

I glanced over and saw Oliver looking at me. But looking was too tame of a word, it was more like he was burning a hole onto my head.

Alarmed, I turned back sharply, pulling Jeremy's head down to mine.

"What the fuck is he doing!?" I violently whispered back to him.

He pulled back, rubbing the back of his skull, "That hurt and maybe it's because he thinks you're a spy. He could be 'monitoring' your movements." he said with a smirk.

"How do you know about that?" I rapidly responded, surprised.

"Caleb told me."

I frowned and faced the idiot in front of me.

"Hey, big mouthed Bessie," I hissed throwing a small wad of parchment at the back of Caleb's head.

He looked over his shoulder and mouthed, "What do you want?"

I jerked my chin over to Oliver and Caleb's eyes scanned over to him, his mouth opened in disbelief and hilarity. Putting an arm on our table he observed, "Wood's staring at you like you killed his mother," chuckling slightly, he retracted his statement, "Wait, I take that back, he's staring at you like you snapped his broomstick in half and set the pitch on fire."

I hit his arm, "Be serious, why is he doing… that?"

"What's he doing?" A fourth voice joined in.

Caleb swung his arm around him, "Grant my good lad, Kensley has been accused of spying by our esteemed Gryffindor Captain, and now he's a murderous stalker."

I shrunk back, looking down. I hadn't really talked to Grant since that night, and I wasn't sure If I was completely ready to act normal. I knew that this period of purgatory was coming to an end, I mean I was lucky to have it at all. We were around each other constantly, with us having the same circle of friends, but he was strategic and didn't try to push himself on me. I swallowed, it was now or never.

"I caught him looking at me here in there in classes, but I thought it would stop. And now he's beaming lasers into my head." I was careful to look at Grant directly, communicating that I was alright with normal conversation.

Grant frowned in concern, "Do you want us to go talk to him? I can ask Davies to, if you'd like."

"No, it'll die down, I think. Eventually." I said, taking a quick check with my peripheral vision.

I was wrong. Detective Oliver Wood was relentless.

xxxxx

"I don't really see why you still let him bother you so much." Caleb said through his book. We were in the library studying, but the calm smell of parchment and ink were not able to reign in my irritation. I've been venting to him about Oliver for the past 10 minutes and I was still surprised that Madam Pince hadn't sushed me yet.

"I don't understand either, I normally never let people get to me like this. But I can't help it!"

Squinting his eyes at me, he carefully asked, "Are you sure you can't help it?"

"I'm trying really hard to ignore him, but he's everywhere. We have 3 classes together and he always has that really accusatory look. It's like he's trying to provoke me," I ranted not really looking for a solution. It just felt nice to be able to unload. It seemed like I was constantly under his watch and it bothered me to no end. He was angry, I got it. But to me the actual fault lied in the execution. He had no just cause and wouldn't listen to any attempt of explanation. So instead of hearing me out, he turned to scrutinizing my every movement. I wasn't exactly mad, more like extremely frustrated, but I was dangerously teetering on the line of annoyance and anger.

"How about you try a tad harder and I don't know, let me study?"

I glared at him and changed the subject, "Do you know where Spencer is?"

"With Hagrid most likely, he has that new Hippogriff and you know how she is with magical creatures."

"Hmm," I agreed.

"Actually speaking of," Caleb got up and closed his book, "I need a little help from Spence for herbology. I'm going to go and get her. Coming with?"

I shook my head, I really did need to finish this astronomy paper and the idea of going to Hagrid's hut wasn't very appealing to me. He was a pleasant person, but the truth of the matter was that he kind of scared me. I knew that he was literally a gentle giant and there were plenty of people that could attest to that, but his gruff demeanor and large size frightened me, or at least put me on edge. Which I also found funny, because I thought his dog Fang was adorable.

"No go on ahead. I need to finish this," pointing down at the partially written on parchment.

"Well if you had stopped talking, you would be done by now," Caleb chuckled as he gathered his things.

"Oh go get lost in the forest won't you?" I jested, turning back to my paper.

Not even after 3 minutes of silence I heard a, "huh," from behind me. I looked back and I met a glare from none other than a particular gryffindor quidditch player. My eyes widened, but remembering what Caleb had said earlier, I turned back to my work desperate to ignore him.

"So you have 3 out of the 7 ravenclaw quidditch players wrapped around your fingers then? Well actually more like 3 out of 6, since Chang is a girl."

I stayed silent. I wouldn't give him the response he wanted, not satisfied, he sat down in the chair in front of me.

Oliver crossed his arms and leaned back, "What kind of game are you playing at?"

I gripped my quill a little harder, but I continued writing, refusing to say anything.

"First I see you snooping around my practice and in this past week you've been spending a significant amount with the ravenclaw quidditch players, namely Wilder, Page, and Stretton."

My stubbornness got ahold of me and clenching my fist into my sleve, I replied, "Caleb, Grant-" I slightly hesitated at his name, "and Jeremy are friends of mine."

"Sure." His short and unconvincing answer pushed another one of my buttons and my face was getting warm with aggravation.

"Sure? So you think I'm lying? What do you think I'm trying to do?" I stood up leaning across the table to look at him straight in the eye.

He defiantly stood up in response, brows knit together and brown eyes dark, "You're up to something. I know it, probably trying to sabotage the other teams for your 'friends'. I saw those plays you were looking at."

If I was an animal I would've growled at him, "I've told you already that those aren't what you think they are. They don't have anything to do with any of the Hogwart's teams."

"Sure."

I was livid. He was not going to let go of his stupid suspicion.

I was close to just walking around the table and just slapping him, "Will you please just stop being such a stubborn twat! I don't know what I have to do to convince you!"

Oliver retorted back, "Nothing. Just tell me the truth."

"What is wrong with you!?" I yelled and a random impulse flew in from the depths of my psyche. There was an urge to do something, anything, to just shut him up.

So using all the strength I could muster, I hurled a book at his face. To my disappointment and astonishment he caught it unfazed, though his eyes were wide in shock. Dammit, forgot he was a keeper.

'You're mental!" He cried, throwing the book on the floor.

"Well at least I'm not a single-minded idiot!"

I threw another book at him, desperate to get him to stop talking. He dodged it to my annoyance and the book flew behind him. Getting ready to throw another, I saw where the previous book had landed. At the feet of a very, very angry librarian.

I gaped, "Oh no."

"Oh no is right Ms. Everett. You two, come here at once! This is a library, not a dueling club! Shouting, yelling, and the damagement of books." Madam Pince scolded, fuming at the two of us.

Oliver tried to reply, "But Madam Pince, I-" but he was cut off.

"The two of you will be coming into the library 3 times a week for the next 2 weeks, maybe this will pound some sense into the both of you," she said in a huff and turned back around leaving the two of us to our own devices.

"This is your fault," Oliver hissed at me.

I scowled and snarled back at him, "See you tomorrow."

I promptly fled from the library before he could get another word in.


	3. Libraries and Apologies

"Kensley, are you sure you don't want come with us to the lake? It's a really nice day outside, well for now," Spencer said, peeking out the window as her fingers combed through her curls.

I huffed in frustration and continued to brush my own dark waves, "Have you been listening to anything I've been saying?"

"Of course I have. Ooh! How about I braid your hair!"

Without a need if an answer she turned me to the mirror and started a loose side braid. I huffed again and made a face, "Madame Fawcett, the Queen of Vanity, has no bounds."

She gave a small chuckle and went back to concentrating on my hair. I studied myself in the mirror tracing my lips, which were getting a bit chapped from the incoming cold weather. Pouting, I squinted and widened my eyes. "Did you ever find it odd that an Asian girl has blue eyes?"

Spencer flicked my neck, "They are almond shaped, enticing, stormy, silverish grey eyes. Not just blue." She mockingly scolded me, "It's like calling my eyes just brown or green. They are a beautiful swirling pond of dark chocolate and emerald, an ocean of hazel." She smiled smugly.

"And an actual answer?"

"Well I never found it odd. And you're half, so it's not like it's so out of the blue," Spencer stilled and snickered at her unintentional pun, "Why the sudden question, anyway?"

I twirled a loose strand around my fingers, "Mmm, I don't know. Just thinking." Looking at the mirror again I thought about how much I resembled my mother. Besides the dashes of Caucasian features and obvious age difference, we could have been twins. Aidan was exactly the same way with dad. We both never fit in during family gatherings. I looked too English to be fully Chinese and vice versa with my brother.

"Okay, all done." Spencer announced, bringing me out of my thoughts. She placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward, resting her head on my shoulder, "So you're sure that you're not coming with us?"

"You haven't been listening then?"

She winked, "Skip detention with Pince. Be daring!"

I pushed her face off my shoulder, "Not a chance, and you're one of the least risk taking people I know."

"Yes, but I just wanted to live vicariously through you."

"Ha ha, how adventurous," I said sarcastically, "But I should be heading down to the library."

I was telling myself more than I was telling her. Contrary to what I was saying, no part of me had any inclination of wanting to go to detention with Oliver. Her repeat offers of ditching were becoming a serious problem with my determination in attending my punishment. I had to go, though, it's not like I was completely innocent, I did throw two books.

"Boo," Spencer frowned but then smiled, "Almost forgot to mention, Caleb and I have a surprise for you!

"Oh no," I deadpanned.

"Don't say that! You'll really like it."

"When do I get it?"

She laughed and started to push me out of the dormitory, "When the time comes!"

"Thanks so much, Professor Trelawney."

xxxxx

I paused and looked outside the window in vain, trying to capture some of the sun's warmth before it disappeared. Madame Pince had sent me reshelving books right away, with an almost tolerable look since I got there early. I sighed at my feeble attempt at heat and continued to manually slide each book into their rightful place.

I wasn't sure if I should have been grateful or annoyed. Oliver still hadn't showed up, and he was far from late by now. I hadn't seen him all day actually, was he even going to bother coming?

The door slammed open and his heavy footsteps echoed throughout the library. He looked windswept, face still red and hair wet from a shower most likely. Of course he was at practice, what else would he have been doing?

"Madame Pince! Sorry I'm-"

"You're late!" She started, "Now, what was so ever important?"

"Quidditch practice," he said back, unashamed.

"Quidditch." She mulled over it, placing her hand underneath her chin, and Oliver smiled ever so slightly at the chance that she would let it go. He was wrong. "An extra hour for you tonight then Mr. Wood. Go and join Miss Everett now, she will inform you of your task."

He walked over to me, his face a little drained, and the red quickly faded from his cheeks.

"Hey."

Hey? Was he not being unpleasant for once? I was still peeved at him for his prior combined actions, so I replied in a terse tone, not bothering to even glance at him, "We're reshelving books. No magic."

I turned away, set on not speaking to him again unless absolutely necessary. We went to work and the silence took over, the only occasional sound was the shuffling of pages and the bumping of books.

It was odd, though, something about him was off. Oliver was fidgety and he kept looking over at me nervously. Whenever I caught him he flushed in embarrassment, but instead of moving to a different area, he just kept hovering around me.

It wasn't like before when he followed me around with a piercing glare and an air of accusation. It honestly seemed like he wanted to say something but hadn't the balls to build up the courage.

This continued for another twenty minutes until I was about to explode in anticipation and annoyance. I marched up to him, and his eyes widened in surprise or fear, I imagine.

"Oliver," I asserted.

Nothing.

I tried being a little more gentle, "Did you need something?"

"I," he stopped and his eyes darted off at some random corner.

"I, what?" I pressed on.

He swallowed and his Adam's apple bobbed, I didn't realize that I was so close to him. I almost wanted to laugh at the hilarity of the situation, I was the hunter and he was the small cornered prey.

Oliver finally spoke, barely louder than a whisper, he muttered, "I… sorry." He turned away from me and I could see the tinge of red on his ears.

"What did you just say?"

He ran a hand through his short hair and swallowed again, "I wanted to apologize."

"You're apologizing." My statement sounded more like a question and he nodded.

"Oliver Wood is apologizing to me." This was unexpected to say the least. I was stunned, It was too sudden. He was supposed to be a stubborn idiot that didn't listen to reason. But as my mom would say, "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." Whatever that meant, and I was prepared to finally be rid of these feelings of irritation over this ridiculous person.

"Yes," he said back in a clear voice. His brown eyes stared directly at me now.

"Okay."

It was my turn to dart away and I went back to face the books. I really had no idea what to say at this point.

I decided to let my thoughts simmer in the silence that had taken the both of us again. I peeked over at him and he looked completely different from a few moments before. There was a small grin resting on his face and he was no longer tense, rather very much relaxed and at ease.

I wanted to laugh once more. He was like a child who had just been told that he was no longer in trouble. He really was so singled minded, but why exactly did he apologize so randomly?

I spoke before I fully registered the thought, "Why?"

He froze as my question broke the quiet, and we watched each other as he processed my inquiry.

"Why, what?"

"The apology."

"So you don't want me to say I'm sorry?" Confusion laced his voice.

"No, no!" I said, probably too quickly, "You never listened to anything I tried saying before and now, out of nowhere, you're apologizing. It just doesn't really make any sense."

Oliver knit his eyebrows together, thinking, and I anxiously waited for what he had to say.

"I saw my faults and acted accordingly."

"Bullshit." He whipped his head around to look at me and squinted his eyes. "Tell me the truth." I crossed my arms, trying to signal that I wouldn't accept any lies.

"It's the truth." He desperately tried to go back to reshelving. I wouldn't have it.

"Stop giving me crap."

He stopped midway and his ears tinged red again. "Your friends."

"My friends?" Oh Merlin. What did they do?

Oliver sighed, finally willing to give the full story, "Wilder and Fawcett. They cornered me this morning and forced me to listen to their explanations about you. It took about an hour until I finally came through. They were hell bent on making sure that I realized the truth and that I was acting like a real arse."

"Oh."

Another silent second went by and then I burst into laughter, my hand covered my face and my arm rested on my stomach as I took in sharp intakes of breath. So this is what Spencer meant by a surprise.

Though I must've sounded like I was crying, because the next thing I felt was Oliver's hands gripping the sides of my arm.

He sounded so afraid and borderline shouted, "Are you alright? Are you crying?!"

This only made me laugh harder and his grip became stronger. I pushed him off as my arms began to hurt.

Between laughs, I managed to choke out, "You're - so - dumb."

"Oh, wait!" I stuck my arms out and quickly sobered up, "I didn't mean that!"

His eyebrows scrunched together again, "You were laughing?"

"Yeah… sorry I didn't mean to. I just uh, I think we got off on the wrong foot." I pushed in another book into the shelf, "You don't seem like a complete prick."

Oliver nodded and turned back to shelving, "Yes, thanks. I've been known to not be complete prick. I think I'm quite decent actually."

I looked at him in the corner of my eye, "Really?"

The corners of his lips turned upwards, "Really."

I couldn't help but smile back at him.

"Miss Everett!"

I jumped as Madame Pince's shrill voice startled me.

"Your allotted time is up, you may leave now."

I took a quick peek at Oliver who had managed to slither a bookshelf away from the sharp librarian. He had a large stack of books behind him, and I knew that it would take longer than his extra hour to completely put them all away.

"Actually, Madame Pince, I think I'll stay until that pile is finished," I said, pointing behind Oliver.

She frowned, I'm sure by the oddity of a student willing to stay later than necessary, "Suit yourself."

She walked away, and Oliver made his way towards me.

"So you're not leaving?" he asked.

"Nope," I walked past him to get another pile of books.

He trailed after me, "I just, um..."

"Hmm?" I hummed.

Oliver rubbed the back of his head and leaned against the shelf, "I really am sorry for the way I acted. And thanks for helping me out, you didn't have to do that."

"I know."

He dipped his head in a nod and went back to shelving.

For the next hour we didn't say a word to each other and, instead, continued to focus on the large mass of books that we had to work on. Every now and then I caught myself stealing glances at him and, to my embarrassment, he would catch me. Oliver would look at the ever so slowly dwindling pile and shoot me a self deprecating half-smile.

It was surprising to suddenly so easily interact with him. Where did that insufferable psycho go? I was happy, though, one less thing to worry about and I wasn't about to put a cap on the amount of friends I could have.

Before I knew it, Madame Pince had shown up again and shooed us out of her library while magically sorting the rest of the books herself.

We turned the same direction out of the library doors, and I looked up at him as I heard a rumble coming from his stomach, "I'm guessing that you're as hungry as I am?"

He chuckled, "I'm going to duck into the Great Hall for a bit before practice. You're hungry?"

"Starving actually."

"Thanks again for staying. I didn't know practice was going to run over so much."

I quirked my head, "Right, you had practice."

We turned a corner and he agreed.

"And you have practice again tonight?" I questioned, just a little puzzled.

"Yeah. This morning was for conditioning and tonight is drill and skill based. We're working as hard as possible this year and pushing our limits as much as we can. It's my last chance and I know we can get that cup. We're the best team that this school has."

Oliver's eyes brightened in excitement and he looked a little satisfied with himself, I laughed in response.

"You're quite an intense fella, aren't you?"

He shrugged. "I guess," he said and smirked.

We turned into the corridor of the Great Hall and someone grabbed my hand, pulling me away. I yelped in surprise.

Grant had his arm wrapped around me and pulled me close into his chest.

"What are you doing, Wood?" He yelled and I could feel the vibrations of his voice rumbling.

"Grant, let go!" I desperately tried to push my body away, but his grip was steel tight.

"I don't know what kind of mental ideas you came up with, but you really need to leave Kensley alone."

"Get off of me!" I stomped my foot onto his and finally managed to weasel my way out when his loosened his hold, "You seriously need to get a grip!"

His eyes twisted in confusion, "What? Why - Ken, are you alright?"

"I'm perfectly fine, he's not doing anything to me. We just, erm.." I looked around us and noticed a tiny crowd of people that had stopped to watch the commotion on their way to dinner. I frowned and in a panic I took Grant's hand, guiding us away. "C'mon, I'll explain to you in the Great Hall."

As we left, I took a look back at Oliver's confounded face.

I made an apologetic face and mouthed to him, "Sorry," and pointed to Grant's back. I turned forward and dragged Grant's sorry ass away from the scene.

We sat down at the Ravenclaw table and Grant slammed his hand down, "What were you doing with Wood of all people?"


	4. Tutors

We sat down at the Ravenclaw table and Grant slammed his hand down, “What were you doing with Wood of all people?”

I crossed my arms and directed a half-hearted stank eye at him, “We were walking to dinner together and actually having a pretty nice conversation, that is until you barged in like a maniac.”

“Wait, what? I thought he was--,” Grant stuck his arm out in confusion as if he was trying to help himself process what he just heard, “didn’t he try to pick a fight with you yesterday? That’s what Jeremy had told me.”

Ugh, I was going to have to stitch Jeremy’s little ratty mouth up and then go murder Caleb, who was most likely the one that let that little episode slip. 

“Well you’re not wrong,” I said and loosened up from my previously agitated state, “But you’re not right either. Oliver and I kind of, uh, made up.” If that was the correct word to use in this situation, it’s not like we had a relationship prior to this whole ordeal.

“Oh…” Grant’s eyes became downcast and he pinched the bridge of his nose, “I may have overreacted a tad.”

“Maybe a little.”

He laid his arm out on the table and looked up at me apologetically, “I’m sorry Ken, I was just worried about you.” 

I felt a small pang in my chest. He was being so signature Grant and I found myself reaching out for his hand. It’s true when they say that old habits die hard.

“I know you were. I know that,” I squeezed and he smiled back at me gently, “But you can’t worry about me like that anymore, Grant.”

He frowned and tightened his hold, “But I…”

I moved my hand away and crossed my arms again, “You can’t,” I shook my head.

“Yeah, fine, I get it," Grant huffed as he pushed himself off the table. 

I sighed and placed my head between my arms, resting my cheek against the cold wooden surface. He seemed to have originally accepted our breakup, but that whole spew of words we exchanged the night we talked appeared to have backtracked completely. Somewhere in his muffled mind he probably saw Oliver as some weird threat, which was absolutely absurd. I wasn’t sure if I should’ve just wholly denounced him or let his feelings die out on its own. Whatever the case, Grant needed to figure something out himself. 

I heard someone flop down on the bench to my right, but I didn’t bother bringing my head up.

“Li Li, is your current posture any indication on why Grant was acting like such a tetchy git whilst leaving the Great Hall?” Caleb said in a slightly pompous tone. I inwardly groaned and turned up to face him.

“Maybe your whale-sized mouth is what made him so tetchy?” I snapped.

He got a hold of my braid and wiggled it, “Maybe Grant isn’t the only one acting like a git right now,” he said closing into my face. 

I pushed him away, “You told Jeremy about mine and Oliver’s spat in the library didn’t you?”

“I might’ve mentioned it in passing,” he admitted.

I knew he said something, though I wasn’t as mad about it as I should’ve been. Caleb was a talker, but when it actually mattered he kept his mouth shut. 

“Well Grant found out and acted all ballistic after he saw Oliver and I walking here from detention.”

“Really,” he grabbed a cup in front of him and took a sip, “but I thought that you two were no longer together.”

“We’re not,” I said deflating back onto the table.

Caleb rubbed his chin, “I see the problem.” 

I nodded into my arm. 

“But what I am curious about, is you and Wood walking together. Enemies become friends, hmm?” He nudged my shoulder.

I nudged him back, “We were never enemies… exactly. And stop acting all aloof, he spilled fairly quickly.”

He snickered, “You’re no fun, but neither was he really. Though he was a particularly hard nut to crack. Stubborn one, he is.”

I laughed at him. I still felt a little annoyed that Caleb and Spencer had taken this situation out of my hands, but I was grateful at the same time. Oliver really was hard to get through to, though I was glad to know now that is wasn’t impossible. After all I was going to spend a significant amount of time with him this and the next week.   
xxxxx  
\-----  
“So, was that your boyfriend?”

“Shit,” my head abruptly hit the table we were kneeling under. Today Madame Pince had us cleaning and polishing the tables and chairs in the library. The task wasn’t very difficult except for the immense amount of Drooble’s Best Blowing Gum stuck underneath so many of the surfaces. Were there no garbage bins in all of Hogwart’s?

I rubbed the area that had been impacted, “Sorry, what was that?”

Oliver’s lips twitched slightly at my fumbling, “Page, are the two of you dating?”

“No,” I shook my head, “No, no. We’re not, dating that is. Definitely not. Why?”

He shrugged it off, but it made me think. Why would Oliver think that Grant and I were dating, but then why wouldn’t he think we were? For crying out loud Grant had acted so freaking protective and I’m pretty sure Oliver had even seen us kiss all those nights ago. 

“Oh, right,” my face warmed and I hoped that there was no color change in addition, “You saw us kiss… didn’t you?”

“Y-yeah,” he stammered, “sorry I assumed, just forget I asked.”

“No, it’s okay,” I interrupted, I didn’t want him to think I was some loose girl who went up and made out with whoever, whenever I wanted, “Yeah, we’re not together, not that I go around with any guy though, I don’t… do that. And he’s not like an exception or anything, we did date for a while. Not anymore, of course, it was kind of like a final gesture you know, even if he didn’t take it as final,” I muttered the last part under my breath, “Do you… understand?”

“I think I do,” Oliver nodded looking pretty amused at my silly little spew, “Then are you and Wilder?”

I giggled at the thought, but felt a little guilty at doing so. Caleb was a great guy, my best friend really, but I never had seriously considered dating him, “No, we’re not either. Jeez Oliver give me some credit would you? Are you going to ask if I’m dating Spencer next?”

He laughed back at me, “No, I’m not, but you are making me wonder a bit now.”

“Oh shush,” I said turning back my attention to the piece of gum I working on, I really wanted to steer the conversation into a different direction, but I wasn’t sure what topic to bring up. It hit me like a bucket of bludgers, it was so obvious, “So how’s the team doing?”

Oliver’s eyes instantly lit up and he immediately went on a long drawl about their next match. As far as he was concerned, Gryffindor had it in the bag. Of course as long as the team did as well as he knew they could, Hufflepuff would have no idea what had hit them. He got particularly animated and started to wave his hands around motioning different positions when he started to talk about the upcoming strategy meeting. Oliver was so excited he had apparently forgotten where we were, because as he mentioned a new defensive tactic he got a little too pumped and banged his head against the table much like I did earlier. 

He winced and grabbed at the back of his head, “Sorry about that, most people would’ve cut me off by now.” That bump in the head seemed to make him realize exactly how long he had been talking.

"No that's fine, I’m just surprised is all,” I answered. I really was. This Oliver had completely 180’d from the first time we actually talked to each other, which was more of a yelling match than an actual conversation. 

He tilted his chin my way, “How so?”

“It seems that you don’t remember that you had accused me of being a spy for the Ravenclaw team not long before, where did that hyper vigilant Oliver go?” I pointed at him with the rag in my hand. It’s not like I wanted him to turn back into that guy, but as a rationally thinking person, I couldn’t help but wonder. 

The tips of his ears reddened and he rubbed his neck absent mindedly, “When I get set on an idea or anything it takes a lot to remove myself from it, I usually get really worked up on it in my head. After that,” he coughed, “encounter with your mates, I finally ‘got it,’ if you could say. Should I be worried?” 

He was surprisingly self-aware, though it seemed so when it helped himself the least. But I understood it, sometimes people get so wrapped up in their own thoughts they can’t see anything outside of it. My mom was that way a whole lot, she usually buried herself in her study during final exam week. It took a shit ton of coaxing from dad and I to get her out of her own mind. Oliver seemed to to share that quality with her, a middle-aged Asian woman. I snickered mentally.

“You shouldn’t be worried and I wasn’t going to cut you off either, it was interesting,” going back to our original topic. 

His eyebrows raised, “Really? You like quidditch?” he looked genuinely excited, most likely because we were about to delve even further into his favorite conversation piece. What was funny was that he had already went on that long speech and he wasn’t even aware if I remotely enjoyed the sport or not.

“Well, don’t act so surprised now.”

Oliver lifted his hands up in defense.

“Yeah I like it, I can get a little crazy about it too, but evidently not as much as you,” I grinned. He shook his head and smiled in return. 

“My family’s really into it too,” I looked up at the table and squinted, “Well my dad the most, he can go on for a week about one match.” I left out the part where it was matches he coached that he talked about the most. My dad was pretty famous in the world of quidditch and right now I didn’t want to bring it up to the broom toting captain in front of me. 

“What’s your team?” he asked, eyes bright.

“The Fitchburg Finches. I’m originally from Boston so it’s partially hometown pride.” I’ve been a fan since birth, but it helped that my older brother was currently on their roster.

I crawled out from under the table and into the next one over. Oliver followed behind me and we both started to wipe down another chair.

“Ahh, Boston. So that explains that accent. You’re a yankee then,” he said tauntingly.

“Well more like a red sox,” I joked. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I chuckled at my out of place quip. Well at least I could appreciate my own humor, “It’s a baseball team.”

“Baseball?” 

“It’s an American muggle sport… nevermind,” I waved it away and wiped the leftovers of a sugar quill that had stuck on a chair leg. Too funny, this guy was going to kill me.

He shook off his questioning look, “Well what about the British and Irish League then?” 

“Oliver Wood, are you testing me?” 

He smirked like I hit the jackpot. “Just seeing if you are who you say you are.”

“Well, Captain,” I stressed the title, “It happens to be the Montrose Magpies and before you ask anymore, I’m a big Lennox Campbell supporter. Can’t wait to see how he shapes up for pre-season after his rookie year.” But I knew that already. Dad had said in his last letter that Campbell needed to fix a tick of his of leaning too far into the left when diving. He had been trying to correct it by adding some weights onto Campbell’s right waist, but there hasn’t been any significant change yet, though of course his ‘tick’ wasn’t even that notable. 

“I live in Montrose, they’re a decent team,” Oliver nodded along.

“Ah, so that explains the accent,” he rolled his eyes, “decent, huh? So I’m guessing they don’t have your undying love?”

“Nope,” he shook his head, “Puddlemere, until death does us apart, and probably not even then.”

“Really? Never met a Scotsman who wasn’t a staunch Montrose supporter, I’m pretty sure Mcgonagall even has a little banner tucked into her desk.” I was almost a hundred percent sure I’ve seen that little black and white flag somewhere in her classroom, she couldn’t hide her love from the world or least of all me.

“My Granda’s been a bit of an influence on that, I was born into it and I don’t regret it all.”

“Well you better watch out, Ballycastle seems to be knocking Puddlemere off their high horse next year.” I couldn’t be absolutely sure of that since the regular season had been cancelled on account of the summer cup, but from the looks of it it seemed to be so.

“What?” Oliver almost yelled out, “No way, they’ve just acquired Williams two years ago, they’re not going anywhere.”

I immediately had to disagree and we continued to debate quidditch for the rest of the detention until Madame Pince shushed us out of her, thanks to us, pristine library.

We continued like this for the next couple of detentions unless came the inevitable harsh reminder from Madame Pince to zip our lids. The topics usually revolved around quidditch and at times went off into different tangents, but always went back to the keeper’s favorite passtime. I hadn’t felt so drained and elated about a sport since my dad first introduced it to me. 

XXXXX

Spence and I sat together in the common room on top of my favorite couch which arguably had the best view of the pitch. I could make out the flying figures of the Ravenclaw players as they flew around for practice.

We both stared at the piece of parchment that Flitwick had handed us in the beginning of the day. As with house tradition, we chose a subject to tutor those below us, but pupil and year were not our decision to make. It was optional of course, but the majority of us agreed to the custom that had helped most us in our own early years. 

Spencer groaned, leaned over and rested her cheek on my shoulder, “2nd years!? What kind of material do they need tutoring with? It’s bloody herbology, not alchemy.”

I snorted at her and folded my own parchment in half, “I got O.W.L. year, not exactly a cakewalk. It’s tonight too, so that’s a great heads up from old Flittie.”

“Meh,” Spencer switched over to lay on the armrest instead, “I need a distraction, what’s going on in your life?”

Happily, nothing really was going on that was noteworthy. Grant and I had had been skillfully avoiding conversation with each other, or more like I avoided most interaction with him, and my sentence to library detention had ended. All was boring and I preferred it that way.

“My mom had a student send her a love note,” I said faintly remembering her last letter and knowing that this would capture Spencer’s attention.

She shot up in a rush, “Really!? What happened?”

“She was really flattered of course, got a little worked up about it too, wasn’t really sure how to handle it. Happened more when she was young, not so much these past couple of years,” I looked over at Spencer, whose wide hazel eyes were focused on my every word.

The thought occurred that I should probably milk this the best I could, “She had to confront the guy. Mom’s not the kind of person to just let these things go and not respond.”

Spencer nodded up and down, “Uh huh… and?”

“She said she felt really nervous when she called the student to stay after class, no idea how he would react, y’know.”

I smiled as she leaned in closer, eager to hear the rest of the story, but really, what was she expecting? It’s not like my mother was going to go and run off in a passionate affair.

“So she goes to talk to him and he gets amazingly flustered. She said his face basically could’ve been an advert for a tomato,” I paused and giggled at the inward image of my mom in the lecture hall during this amazing situation.

“And…” Spencer urged me to keep going.

“He starts sputtering all these words, making absolute no sense. She couldn’t decipher what he was saying for the life of her. After struggling for a little he finally explains that the note was meant for one his classmates. Dad had a good laugh about that one.”

“Why you!” Her eyes widened and she hit my arm, “You think you’re so clever!”

“I know I’m clever and what did you think was going to happen? S’not like there was a whole ton of different outcomes.”

“Erghh,” she replied bitterly. As Penelope and Aurelia walked into the room, her eyes instantly lit up again.

“Oi, Clearwater! How’s that Weasely treating you!?” She rushed forward and latched onto the unsuspecting blonde all giddy and ready to talk away.

I shook my head and grinned, redirecting my focus back to the pitch which was still filled with blue and bronze players flying around each other.

Aurelia plopped down on the now vacant spot next to me and chuckled, “Fawcett is as active as always.”

I nodded humorously and turned to her, “She has good intentions.”

She agreed as we looked on at little Penny trying to answer the hoard of questions Spencer sputtered out. Aurelia brought her own piece of parchment in front of her, “Got your assignment?”

“Yeah, it’s tonight actually, with 5th years,” I peeked over to the grandfather clock in the corner of the common room, “less than an hour.”

Aurelia cheerfully patted my hand and urged me to get up with her as she stood, “Mine starts soon, head to the library with me?”

“Ah, never one without motive is she?” I smirked. As cool and collected Aurelia appeared to others, she never liked going to the library by herself. She had some leftover trauma from 1st year when she spilled some pumpkin juice over a book which resulted in Madame Pince having an enormous fit about the incident.

“Two birds with one stone,” she said, pulling me up.

“Someone is studying her idioms!” I mockingly applauded as I grabbed my bag.

“Shut it,” she hooked her arm around mine and dragged me out of the common room.

We walked to the library, chatting about not really anything important. The one thing that did stick out was Shea’s renewed interest in Jeremy. They had dated in 5th year, but apparently Shea had some plans in mind for the Hogsmeade visit that was coming up at the end of the month. 

I would’ve liked to continue talking to her, but as we walked into the large book ladened room, Aurelia waved me away and met up with her new “eager to learn” disciples. 

I sighed and sat in my usual corner table, waiting for my own pupils to show up. With nothing to do and no real urge to start any of the assignments due soon I brought out my own star and moon charts to look over before any of the 5th years showed up. If I was going to be a tutor, I could at least be a useful one. 

Not that there was much to review in the first place, I was done in a matter of minutes and was left with nothing again. I pushed myself off the table and decided to wander around the bookshelves to kill some more time. Filtering through the numerous shelves, I had no real objective. 

I stopped and stared across the way, encountering a familiar brown haired boy who was hunched over focused on numerous books that was splayed across the table. I uttered a quick and quiet, “Hey,” with a wave, not wanting to disturb his studies.

Since detention had ended, I hadn’t really talked to Oliver all that much. Besides the occasional greetings and glances we never got the chance to talk for a longer period of time. It seemed like a while especially compared to the intensity of our previous conversations.

I wouldn’t say that I missed him outright, but he was fun and new. It was surprising how easily we got a long since we never actually talked before we started to serve detention together.

Oliver’s head jerked up, his eyes widened in surprise and he waved back. I found the corners of my lips turning up at him. Still not wanting to interrupt, I ducked into the next shelf to try and locate a book to skim through.

I barely made it to the 1st page of the dragon book that caught my attention when Oliver appeared from behind the bookshelf.

“Oh!” I quietly gasped out, I wasn’t expecting to see him again, “Hi, Oliver.”

“Hey,” he smiled, snickering slightly at my reaction.

“You didn’t have to come up, saw you studying and everything,” I let him know.

He looked at the book I was holding, “Ah, sorry, if you’re busy, I can go.”

I closed the book and slid it back on the shelf, “You’re fine, I’m just wasting time.”

Oliver relaxed and leaned against the shelf, “What for?”

“I’m doing a little tutoring, not time for them to show up quite yet.”

“Really, what subject?”

“Astronomy, glamorous I know,” I said feigning glee.

“I was always rubbish at the subject,” Oliver started to shuffle his hands together and guided his gaze elsewhere, “Actually I could use some help with it myself.”

I breathed out a laugh and decided to humor him, not knowing what his intentions were.

“Yeah, Sinistra is not making this year an easy one is she?”

“No. She is not,” he nodded and agreed along.

“I’m just a little taken aback.” I tried hard to stuff some authenticity into my words.

“Why?” His face turned to me and his eyebrows furrowed together. I’ve noticed there was a little crease that always showed up between them.

“Well Astronomy isn’t really a sought after N.E.W.T. so there’s only one class,” his brows rose and some more creases appeared on his forehead, I had some inclination to tease him about it later, “and you’re not in it.”

Oliver’s ears grew red and he slumped his face into his hands, “You’ve caught me.”

“So smooth Captain, trying to steal some of this Ravenclaw’s time, eh?”

He tried to laugh it off, albeit pretty awkwardly, “Um, actually I could use some help with my studies, if you don’t mind.”

I laughed along with him, trying to save the little amount of pride he had left, “I don’t mind.”

I ducked my head around the shelf, remembering why I was in the library in the first place. “Sorry,” I caught him in the middle of forming another sentence, “I’ve got to go, the kiddies are showing up.”

Oliver closed his mouth and opened it again, “So, soon?”

“Soon,” my lips curved up once and I went on to greet the awaiting students.


End file.
